Lgbtq friendly places to travel
If you're looking for the best gay-friendly destinations, you've certainly come to the right place! We recognize Africa inside out. We know her secret hideaways, members-only locations, and hottest shows – and we're ready to roll out the red carpet just for you.
Africa has many gay-friendly countries, and we know exactly where you should go when, where to stay, and all the tips and tricks to make your holiday the best it can be. Here are the best countries to append to your itinerary!
South Africa
Africa’s gay capital, Cape Town, is a hub of all things thriving and fabulous. A delicious concoction of experiences, sights and tastes await you here in South Africa's oldest city.
Explore Cape TownBotswana is a country of mystery that will take your breath away while also making you scratch your head due to its unique nuances. With its puzzling Delta flooding in the dry winter months and seemingly endless herds of elephant, this wildlife haven is like no place on earth.
Explore BotswanaEllen Degeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi shone the limelight on Rwanda as a popular possibility for gay travellers. After their visit, they raved about their life-changin
My love of street trips started prior. As a teenager growing up in a suburb of Boston, I discovered Jack Kerouac’s classic road trip novel On the Road. The book opened a door to queer history and to places where offbeat weirdos fond me could spot their fit.
I wrote my college thesis on thoroughfare trips, and driving myself to (and from) a summer semester at UC Berkeley as analyze. I guess I should have recognizable back then that I would finish up writing about travel for a living!
I’ve taken two cross-country highway trips – one during college, and one when I moved to California.
I’ve also taken shorter road trips: New York to Florida, New York to Atlanta by way of Kentucky (state #44) and Tennessee, and Modern York to Michigan (state #43).
I spent a month living in a ghost town in Alaska for a writer’s retreat, and stayed on for an extra two weeks to scout the state with my partner, who flew out to Juneau to see me.
Closer to home, I loving taking weekend trips to cities and towns in the Hudson Valley, where I live.
I love the US – even if I don’t always like my country’s laws and policies.
I eventually did turn my like of travel into a job, by t
10 Most LGBTQ Friendly Countries: 2025 Guide
What are the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in 2025?
2025, the most LGBTQ-friendly countries include Malta, Iceland, Canada, Spain, and New Zealand. These nations consistently rank at the top for LGBTQ rights, protections, and social acceptance.
Other highly inclusive destinations are the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Australia.
Which country is the gay capital of the planet in 2025?
2025, Amsterdam in the Netherlands is often called the gay capital of the planet, known for its vibrant LGBTQ tradition, historic activism, and iconic Pride celebrations.
Which countries have banned conversion therapy?
2025, 25 countries have enacted nation-wide bans on so-called “conversion therapy” while others hold done so more on a mention or provincial level.
Where can transgender people legally change their gender?
Transgender individuals can legally change their gender in many LGBTQ-friendly countries, often through self-determination processes without invasive requirements. Notable examples enclose Malta, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Argentina, Canada, and Novel Zealand, which let legal gender recognition
LGBTQ+ Worldwide Travel Map
LGBTQ Travel: A FABULOUS Instruction to Gay Travel in 2025
The Broke Backpacker is supported by you. Clicking through our links may earn us a compact affiliate commission, and that's what allows us to keep producing free content 🙂 Learn more.
We’re going to start this LGBT travel guide off a little differently than any old post. We’re going to start with a story.
*cue dramatic music*
Baby Indi, aka your caffeine addicted author, left home at 18. I booked a one-way ticket and swapped small town Australia for the delightful chaos of Ho Chi Minh Capital. Bold move for someone who still got ruined in her four-street town.
With no phone, no guide, and no iota of Vietnamese, I stopped for coffee in an street. The first foreigner I’d seen in five days sat next to me. We got to talking and I thought things were going well. Then they asked:
“So you’re a lesbian right? Aren’t you afraid of travelling gay?”
I barely knew how to travel, wasn’t entirely sure I was a lesbian, and I didn’t really know how to give them an LGBTQ-friendly spiel… A gay journal guide assortment of tips and advice… Their questions really threw me. Should I be afraid to be a gay travell